TOUGH LOVE with Meg Collins

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you stayed in a relationship that you left due to harboring resentments or due to cheating, violence, or lack of communication?

I recently watched a movie called, “Fireproof,” and this couple struggled due to lack of time for one another and their relationship. They had both given up, until the husband’s Father stepped in and said that to salvage his relationship and marriage; he went on a 40 day journey to do something different for his partner every single day. In this book that the Father had written to his Son, he continues to encourage him not to give up and to continue his pursuit of happiness in his marriage. He buys flowers, chocolates, makes her coffee before work, gets her cold medicine, calls to check on her at work; she noticed nothing because they had done nothing for one another for so long.

How do you get back something that you lost in life, folks? Do you let it go and move forward with your life? Are you holding onto the past so tightly that it feels like it is strangling your very being of existence? Do you think that your time is up with life and that God has forgotten about you and passed you by for someone more important? Letting go of our faults, errors, and mistakes is a challenge. Moving forward is crucial, as we delve into a new spiritual journey of existence and let go of those who hurt us or the ones we hold so dearly.

Some days this is a tough task for many people, including me, however, I must believe that God is there; omnipresent in all my trials. I must believe that He can hear me and that He has not forgotten about me and what I have gone through and been through in my life; what I am struggling to get out of in my barren existence some days. We always have gratitude for all things that come our way and as humans, we do make mistakes and fall, fail, falter, give up, lose hope, and then something happens; we are inspired by the Bible or a mere strangers words to our very soul.

Stuck in a rut is an option. We choose to be stuck. That couple chose to be stuck and they stayed together in the end, because of faith and perseverance. I am not just speaking about relationships; I am talking about your very life and your very happiness, right now, today. Are you happy? Make a list and review why you are unhappy and what is triggering your emotional instability. For most of us it may be just a few things. For others, it may seem a meaningless existence.

I am here to tell you that you DO have worth and that you DO have meaning in my life and the lives of others as well. Change your attitude and thought process to one that is positive; maybe you are not around positive people today. The people we tend to hang out with are the very people we can hence become in our lives. Choose you today; choose uniqueness, character, faith, and hold on, hold on for your very life. This life only happens one time for all of us; then we answer to what we have done on this earth.  Tell me, what have you done and are you ready to meet your Maker?


Meg Collins is a columnist, author, radio show host, editor and ghostwriter. You can contact her with your thoughts on this article at beachermeg@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/megcollins9. 

"Tough Love" by Meg Collins

What is love without forgiveness towards one another in this world?

The Bible teaches us to forgive 7 times 70 and people questions Reverends, Pastors, and Clergymen, “What do I do after I have forgiven the same person more than 7 times 70 in my life?” My friend Catherine is very active in church and children’s ministry and she approached her Pastor about a family member and a situation in which she had to forgive the impossible it felt in her life and walk with Christ and this one person. She was told this, “You can forgive someone completely through prayer, repeated prayer; however that does not mean that you have to let them back into your life ever again, Catherine.” My friend was able to forgive, let go, and move on with this situation in her life and love from a distance, without any conversation needed for the rest of her life. A lesson of faith was taught to me that day. Forgive and pray for removal of any ill feelings towards another.

I recall a time in my life where I had a gratitude journal and a dump journal. The gratitude journal was bright and cheery and the dump journal was bleak and morbid in its appearance. I did this for six months of my life fifteen years ago, to remove ill feelings from my life. This was a daily chore for me that I made a habit of doing every morning that I woke up; even before I ate my breakfast, I would meditate and write on these two notebooks. The trick was this: gratitude before dumping in your journals. My gratitude list had to be 20 things in which I was grateful for on that day. Once I completed that task, I was then able to move on to the dump book. I would list ten things that were problems in my life, things I was furious about in my life, and people that I was mad at in my life. Eventually the gratitude list grew in its size and the dump lists were removed, because I found myself in a repetitious cycle, spiraling through the same exact dump lists and eventually, God removed them for me, in His time and not my own time; I prayed for their removal.

There are many things to learn about love and loss, grief and suffering, healing and emotions, thoughts and actions, reflection and contradiction, honesty and integrity, soul hunger and humility. I always have said that humility is not something that you just get one day in life; it is something that a person must tell you that you have in your spirit in order for it to be a spirit and soul characteristic. In working through so many of life’s lessons and struggles, trials and tribulations, it is imperative that we as individuals find the good in the bad in our days and just roll with the punches; God never promised us no trials in life nor did He promise a bed of roses for us each and every day. What He did promise us is that, “We reap what we sow”.  Today, what are you reaping and what are you sowing in your daily walk with God? Are you a person of measure or a person of meanderings? Are you a dumper every day or are you a giver to others in your life? My challenge for you this month is to attempt to do a 60 day journey with me of gratitude and dump booking. Go out and purchase two journals-label one gratitude list 2012 and one dump list 2012. 


Let us begin our journey of a lesson of faith together, that in life, anything is possible, no matter what the circumstances may be in your life today, honor yourself and your feelings and take this journey with me for 60 days within yourself. In finding a partner in your life, it takes releasing the negativity and getting to the core of your inner being before you can offer you heart to a man or a woman completely. Together, let us get to the inside layers of our spirits and souls and transform our lives, our though processes, and move forward not in fear, yet in faith this month.

Meg Collins

Columnist, Author, Radio Host, Editor, Ghostwriter, Poet, and Children’s Book Author.

beachermeg@gmail.com

diaryofastarfish@blogspot.com

megcollins9@twitter.com